Improvement in elevated railways



J. WESTGOT'T.

Elevated-Railway.

910,169,322, Patented0ct.26,l875.

i4 1 r% W A'FTOBNEYS,

MPETERi PHOWUTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C'- IMPROVEMENT lN ELEVATEDRAlLVilA'VS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 169,32 2, dated October26, 1875; application filed September 13, 1875.

e To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN Wnsrcorr, of

' had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification,in which-,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with a part of the car broken away Fig. 2,an end view.

The object of this invention is to provide a cheaper construction ofrailroads than that now in use and it consists in the particularconstruction of a single-rail elevated track in combination with aspecially-constructed car, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawing, A represents the single iron rail, which is made of, thebest iron or steel. Said rail is fastened securely to the wooden beam B,which is about twelve inches square and securely fastened upon the topsof the piles O. The latter are made either of wood or iron, and driveninto the ground in I a line, and a sufficient distance down to make asteady and reliable support, the number in a given space, and theinterval between, be-

ing regulated according to the amount and character of the traffic overthe same. D is the specially-constructed car, which is provided with asingle pair of wheels, E E, one at the front and the other at the rearof the car, upon the outside, instead of beneath the same, and soarranged in housings that the bottom of the car will be near the rail,so as 'to lower the center of gravity as much as possible and preventthe car from being topheavy. The wheels E are provided with two flanges,which extend down on each side of the rail, straddling the same. Thebody of the car is extended down upon each side of the piles, at F, to adistance of about three feet, which extensions form baggage or freightreceptacles paneled upon the outside, and to which access is had throughdoors opening outwardly. The said extensions help to balance the car,and are faced upon the inside with iron rails 00, which engage withfriction-wheels G upon the sides of the piles, to support the car andprevent any swaying motion. Said friction-wheels are made with flatsmooth faces, and are located some distance below the rails, and nearthe bottom edge of the car, the function of said wheels being not somuch for guiding as they are for fending off and preventing the griping.

The object of placing the friction-wheels upon the piles and theside-supporting rails on the car is to lessen the expense ofconstruction, the wheels upon the piles taking the place of iron rails,which would otherwise have to be substituted therefor, so that the onlycost for guide-rails is that upon each side of the car. Anotheradvantage arising out of this arrangement is, that the wheels, whenplaced upon the piles, do not rotate continuously and become hot andworn, as would be 7 the case if they were attached to the car.

By means of the above-described construction, the cost of railroads isgreatly lessened, as is alsothe cost of current repairs, the piles notbeing affected by frosts and rains so as to render the track uneven, asis the case with the earth-beds of the cross-ties. The work of grading,bridge-building, &c., is also very greatly reduced, the piles beingmadeto project above the ground different lengths, according to the faceof the country, so as to bring the top of the same upon the same'horizontal line. The track being, therefore, always smooth and even, thereis comparatively but little wear and tear upon the rolling-stock, andtheheavy expense of maintaining large gangs of section-men dispensedwith.

I am aware of the fact that a single-track railway has been constructed,in which guiding and supporting rails attached to thelower sides of thecar are made to move in grooved pulleys, arranged upon each side of thetrack, above the main rail, and upon independent supports, and Itherefore confine my invention to the particular devices shown anddescribed. In the case referred to, however, the road necessitates theemployment of crossties, which it is the object of my invention todispense with, and the pulleys, being above the rail, are required to begrooved in order to hold and guide the car in an upright position,whereas my pendent baggage-extensions make a self-sustaining car, withwhich the fiat friction rollers upon the piles are only employed to fendoff and prevent griping.

Having-thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, is-

[n asingle-rail railway the combination, with the car having pendentbaggage-receptacles, faced upon the inside with iron rails, of thesingle beam B, surmounted by the main rail, and the supporting-piles 0,having the flatfaced friction-rollers G attached to each side of thesame, below the main rail and near the level of the bottom of thependentextension,

substantially as and for the purpose described. The above specificationof my invention signed by me this 9th day of September, A.

JOHN WESTOOTT.

Witnesses:

SoLoN O. KEMON, CHAS. A. PETTIT.

